Automatic overhead door opener



Jan. 23, 1968 J. R. WIEGAND v 3,364,974

AUTOMATIC OVERHEAD DOOR OPENER Filed Jan. 18, 1967 5 SheGLS-Shetit l INVENT OR John R h/Legama Jan. 23, 1968 J. R. WIEGAND AUTOMATIC OVERHEAD DOOR OPENER Filed Ja n. 18 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 d m Inn m.

lava N INVENTQR John P. A/degand BY sfi ,7, v- Q4TTUHNEYJ Jan. 23, 1968 J. R. WIEGAND 3,364,974

AUTOMATIC OVERHEAD DOOR OPENER I 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 18, 1967 INVENTOR N Johh R. wiegand mam H N RQL m% w% R QQQEQQQ um m\\ m% w\\ w@ Q\\ 8%. v \unlhl. a 1 l. I E I I w l 1 g 1 m b uuhfi- V 1 5 w% w K 4 ML 9 United States Patent 3,364,974 AUTOMATIC OVERHEAD DOOR OPENER John R. Wiegand, Valley Stream, N.Y., assignor to Wiegand Electronics Co., Inc., Plainfield, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey Continuation-impart of application Ser. N 0. 524,401,

Feb. 2, 1966. This application Jan. 18, 1967, Ser.

Claims. (Cl. 160-188) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The disclosure describes an automatic overhead door opening assembly including three units. One unit has a pivotable safety locking arm mounted on a lintel, header beam or ceiling over the door. A second unit is a drawbar assembly mounted on the door, and a third unit includes a remotely mounted drive motor, with a flexible cable driven by the motor to open and close the door and to turn the safety locking arm out of the way of the door.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Ser. No. 524,401, filed on Feb. 2, 1966, now Patent No. 3,332,472.

This invention concerns an automatic overhead door opener of improved simplified construction and installation. In my prior patent application I have described an automatic overhead door opener which is mounted on a header or lintel above a doorway. This has proven very successful in practice. However, there are some building structures in which the space above the doorway is too limited to install the unit including motor, lock arrangement, winch and clutch mechanism. The present invention is directed at overcoming this difl'iculty by an arrangement in which the unit including motor, winch and clutch is mounted remotely from the doorway and is operatively connected to the door solely by a flexible cable. A pivotable safety locking arm which prevents accidental or unauthorized opening of the door, is mounted on the header beam lintel or ceiling just above the door. This locking arm is operated by the flexible cable which lifts the door. By this arrangement, an automatic overhead door opener assembly can be installed above any overhead opening door regardless of the limited space available thereat. The invention is adaptable to sectional type or one-piece swing-out doors made of wood, metal, polyester reinforced with fiberglass or other materials. The invention is adaptable to doors of any practical height.

It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide an overhead door opening assembly having three separate units, one unit including a motor, clutch and winch; a second unit including a drawbar assembly; and the third unit including a pivotable safety locking arm for the door, with a flexible cable driven by the motor to operate the locking arm and lift the door.

A further object is to provide an assembly as described, with a draw bar on the door to which the cable is connected, and an idler wheel or roller on the draw bar to keep the cable clear of the door when the door is being Opened and closed.

Another object is to provide an improved automatic overhead door opening assembly which is light in weight, simple to install, compact in construction, reliable in operation, and adaptable to a great variety of sizes and arrangements of garage doors.

A further object is to provide an automatic overhead door opening assembly as described, wherein a single flexible cable is the sole connecting means between the door and the remotely located drive motor.

Patented Jan. 23, 1968 For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawings and to the appended claims in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective rear and top view with parts broken away of a sectional door shown provided with a safety locking arm, flexible lifting cable and associated components of a door opening assembly according to the invention, the door being shown in a lowered closed position.

FIG. 2 is a reduced sectional view of the sectional door with associated components of the door opening assembly, the door being shown in an elevated open position.

FIG. 2A is a perspective view of a cable stop member.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged bottom plan view taken on line 33 of FIG. 2, of a unit including drive motor, speed reducer, clutch and winch, and relay box.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of part of a draw bar with an adjustable roller mounting bracket thereon.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the door in lowered closed position with parts of the door opening assembly shown in side elevation.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of a unit including roller and safety locking arm.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 88 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is a side view of a spring compression unit employed in the assembly of FIG. 5, and

FIG. 10 is a diagram of an electric circuit employed in association with the door opening assembly.

Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a door 20 having a multiplicity of rectangular sections 22, 23 and 24 connected by strap hinges 25 so that the sections pivot with respect to each other on horizontal axes. At the back of the door near the upper corners of section 22 are brackets 26 carrying rollers 28 which are engaged rotatably and slidably in channeled rails 30. The rails have lower forwardly located straight sections 31 and upper rearwardly located horizontal sections 32 connected by integral curved corner sections 33. Brackets 34 se'- cured to the ceiling 35 of a garage, warehouse or other building, support the rails 30 in vertical planes at opposite lateral ends of a doorway. To the extent described, the construction described is conventional.

At the back of section 21 is mounted a drawbar assembly 40. This drawbar includes an angle bar 42 secured by nuts and bolts to section 21 of the door. The bar has an upper rearwardly curved end on which is mounted an idler roller 44. A flat link bar 41 is joined by other nuts and bolts to bar 42. This bar extends down- Wardly and has a forwardly extending foot 42 provided with a hole 45 in which engages end hook 46 of a strong coil spring 48. To the upper end hook of the spring is secured one end of a flexible steel cable 49. This cable is entrained over roller 44 and then forwardly to unit 50. Spring 48 can be adjusted so that if an obstruction is encountered as the door goes down, the cable will slip on a winch to shut off a motor at unit 50.

Unit 50 shown to best advantage in FIGS. 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7, includes a flat base bar or plate 52 which has holes 53 receiving mounting screws or bolts 54. The plate 52 is shown mounted to the rear side of a short vertical tionary headless stud or bolt 58 is securely seated at one end in hole 57. The bolt 58 is extended horizontally and has a free threaded end 59 on which is an adjustable nut 60. Adjacent the nut is a coil spring 62 which bears on a washer 64. The washer abuts the upper straight end 65 of an arm 66. The arm has a hole 67 through which the bolt 58 extends. Arm 66 has a lower free section 69 twisted 90 to the plane of arm end 65. The arm 66 can turn on the stationary bolt 58 but is normally restrained frictionally by pressure of a resilient ring 70. Ring 70 is juxtaposed to an idler roller 72 rotatably mounted on the smooth portion of bolt 58 between its threaded ends. Between roller 72 and flange 56 is a washer 71. The nut 60 can be adjusted to tension the spring for limiting excessively the free swinging movement of the arm 66 and rotation of roller 72. At its upper end the arm 66 has a rather pointed part 65' which will contact the plate 52 when the arm 66 rotates upwardly or counterclockwise from the solid line position of P1 of FIG. 5. The pointed part 65 limits forward or clockwise movement of arm 66 by abutting ceiling 35, so that arm 66 is always in a position to prevent opening door 20 once the door is down. The bottom free end 69 of arm 66 will extend close to the header as shown by dotted line position P2 in FIG. 5, when the arm is pivoted in a clockwise direction or the dooris started upwardly. When arm 66 is in the substantially vertical solid line position of P1 of FIG. 5, it is in line with door 20 and will prevent accidental or unauthorized raising of the door. When the arm is drawn against the header 84 in position P2, the door is sufliciently cleared by the arm so that the door can be raised. When the door is started down from the fully open position of FIG. 2, arm 66 is turned forwardly to position P1 away from the header. The door in any case can always still descend freely. It is its upward movement from a fully closed position which is prevented when an attempt is made to raise the door in an unauthorized manner.

Cable 49 has one end 49a attached to the upper end of spring 48. This cable end extends up over roller 44 then cable section 49b extends upwardly and forwardly over roller-J2. Then the cable goes down and around roller 72. From roller 72 section 490 of the cable goes rearwardly to remotely mounted drive unit 100. On cable section 490 is a cylindrical stop tube or collar 85 shown in FIGS. 2, 2A and and secured in position by set screws 85'. This stop collar keeps the door from going too far rearwardly as the collar is stopped at the unit 50 as shown in FIG. 2. This in turn stops the cable from moving, and causes the cable to slip on the winch which is necessary to stop the motor.

Unit 100 shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 5 has an apertured base plate 102 with holes 103, receiving bolts 104 secured to the ceiling 35, the unit includes an electric motor 106 with associated speed reducer 107 and clutch 108 driving a shaft 110. Shaft 110 carries a drive gear 112 meshed with a gear 114 on stub shaft 116. On shaft 116 is a capstan roller 118 al gned with a winch 120. The winch is mounted on drive shaft 112. Cable section 49a passes around winch 120. The winch is mounted on drive shaft 112. Cable 49 passes around winch 120 and is engaged between the winch and capstan roller. The lower course or section 494 of the cable is connected to a shock absorbing spring assembly 125 which protects the door and motor from shock when the door is stopped after being raised or lowered.

The spring assembly 125 includes a coil spring 126 through which extend axially two doubled loops 128, 130 terminating in hooks 131, 132, see FIGS. 5 and 9. The cable end 49' is connected to the bight of loop 128 at the forward rearward end of spring 126. The hooks 131 of the loop 128 are located at and bear on the forward end of spring 126. Connected to the bight of loop 130 at the forward end of spring 126 is one end of short flexible line 135. The other end of the line is connected to an eye 136 secured on the upper part of the drawbar 40. Hooks 132 at the rear end of loop bear on the rear end of spring 126. The spring 126 is compressed since the cable end 49' exerts a rearwardly directed tension at all times.

Mounted on the drawbar 40 by nuts and bolts is a short arm 140 which extends forwardly just above the door. It carries an axially horizontal idler roller 142 and provides a platform for the lock. Roller 142 is centered in the vertical plane of cable 49. Thus when the door is being raised and lowered or the portion 49b of the cable between roller 44 and roller 72 will rest at one point on roller 142. This protects the cable from being scraped and frayed by the sharp edges or cornersof'the door.

If desired, as shown in FIG. 4, the arm 140 can be replaced by a longer arm 140' provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced holes 145 so that the roller 142 can be adjustably positioned forwardly of the drawbar 40 with respect to the upper curved part of the draw bar. If desired a plurality of holes 148 can be provided in the curved part of drawbar 40 as shown in FIG. 4 for adjustably positioning the arm 140' any desired distance above the door.

Relay box 109 contains parts of circuit 150 described below in connection with FIG. 10. On the relay box is a lamp 162 mounted in socket 162'. A microswitch is located at clutch 108 and operates to shut off the motor 106 when the door is fully open and closed. A wing nut is provided on bolt 171 and bearing on spring 172. This wing nut provides a fine adjustment to control friction between cable 49 and the winch 120 by reducing the space and increasing the pressure between the clutch roller 118 and the winch. The greater the pressure, the more friction will be exerted on the cable so that a stronger pull will be applied thereto.

FIG. 10 shows an electrical circuit 150 which may be used in association with the door opening assembly. The circuit includes a motor 106 having a field 106a and armature 106b. The motor is automatically reversed when latching relay 152 in circuit with the motor is reversed. The relay 152 has reversing contacts 153, 155 which are reversed each time power is applied thereto from low voltage secondary winding 154 of stepdown transformer 157. A normally open starting switch 156 is connected in series with winding 154 which is connected to coil 152' of relay 152. Primary winding 159 of the transformer is connected to ground and to contact 164 of microswitch 165. This microswitch which is located at the clutch assembly of unit 100 serves to turn the motor off when the door is fully open and fully closed. Lamp 162 is connected to contact 163 of the microswitch and to relay contact 166. The lamp goes onwhen the door is up.

Circuit 150 is basically the same as that described in 7 my copending patent applications S.N. 461,366 filed June 4, 1965 and 524,401 filed Feb. 2, 1966, now Patent Nos. 3,319,696 and 3,332,472, respectively, so that no further explanation is required here. It is sufficient to note that closing of switch 156 momentarily triggers the relay to reverse and apply power to motor 106 to drive it in one direction if the door 20 is fully open and to drive it in the other direction if the door is fully closed. As soon as the door moves the lamp lights. The relay locks in reversed position. The motor drives the cable 49 in one direction or another via the winch 120 and capstan 118.

In operation of the assembly, if the door is initially closed as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the cable 49 will turn roller 72 and with it the ring 70 and arm 66 so that the arm end 69 turns to position P2 close to header 84. This permits the door to rise on rails 30 since the arm 66 is clear of the top of the door. The door moves up to the horizontal fully open position shown in FIG. 2. The stop collar 85 on cable 49 is stopped at unit 100 which in turn stops the cable. When the cable stops, the clutch roller 118 stops since it rolls on the cable. The cluch gear 114 is still driving and screws itself on double thread bearing 114 against clutch roller 118 on the bearing. The arm 165' of the microswitch 165 rides the clutch gear 114 and is moved to shut ofl current to the motor 106 and light the lamp 162. The door remains open unit until switch 156 is momentarily closed. Then the motor is started but turns the winch and capstan in reverse direction so that the door is pulled forwardly until its lower end passes beyond the curved parts 33 of the rails when the door descends to the fully closed position. When the motor reverses the direction of drive of cable 49, arm 66 is turned forwardly to about one inch from header 84. This does not interfere with downward movement of the door. After the door is fully closed the cable stops, which again stops the clutch roller. Since the rotational direction is now reversed, the clutch gear 114 screws itself away from the clutch roller and turns the switch arm 165' the other way to shut 01f the motor. With the motor stopped, end 69 of arm 66 remains in position about one inch from header 84. If the uppermost part of the door touches arm 66 as it passes downwardly, the turning of idler roller 72 brings arm 66 back into position about one inch away from the header which then keeps the door locked.

It will be noted that the motor unit 100 is mounted remotely from the door which can be any desired length. For longer or shorter doors, longer or shorter cables 49 respectively will be provided. In the present arrangement steel bars extending the length of the ceiling between the motor and door as used in prior door openers, are avoided. Also chains and screw drives extending the full length of the door or along the ceiling are avoided. The operation is automatic, quick, safe and foolproof. Installation is quickly efiected and no particular mechanical skill is required to install the assembly. A homeowner can perform the installation himself with simple tools in a relatively short time. The units can be packaged in a small compact package for convenient storage and shipment. The assembly described is simpler in construction than prior automatic door openers and it can be manufactured at lower cost.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise constructions herein disclosed and that various changes and modifications may be made within the scope or the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A door opener for a door mounted between guide rails at a doorway and movable between a lowered vertical closed position and an overhead horizontal open position, comprising a first unit including a reversible drive motor mountable to a ceiling at a position rearwardly of, remote from and above said door, a winch driven by said motor, and a flexible cable entrained intermediate its ends on said winch for driving the cable in either of two directions for raising and lowering the door depending on the direction of drive of said cable; a second unit mountable in a closely confined space above said door, said second unit comprising an idler roller with said cable entrained thereon and supported thereby, a support for said roller, a pivotably mounted safety locking arm carried by said support and normally disposed in a vertical position above said door to prevent raising of the door, friction means engaging the arm and roller so that the arm turns forwardly out of the way of the door when the door is raised by the cable while the cable is driven in one of said two directions, so that the arm remains out of the way of the door when the door is lowered by the cable while the cable is driven in the other of said two directions and a third unit comprising a drawbar assembly mountable on the door, and spring tensioning means connecting opposite sides of the cable to :the drawbar assembly.

2. A door opener as recited in claim 1, wherein the sec- 0nd unit further comprises a plate mountable in a fixed position over the doorway, and a flange extending outwardly of said plate, said support comprising a bolt secured in said flange and rotatably carrying said roller, friction means and locking arm.

3. A door opener as recited in claim 2, wherein said bolt has a threaded free end, a nut on said free end of the bolt, and a coil spring on said bolt between said nut and said arm, whereby adjustment of said not adjusts spring pressure on said arm and roller to prevent excessively free rotation of the locking arm and roller.

4. A door opener as recited in claim 1, wherein the drawbar assembly comprises a drawbar secured to the door and having a portion extending above the door rearwardly of said idler roller, a second idler roller carried by said drawbar, said cable being entrained over said second idler roller; said spring tensioning means comprising a coil spring interconnecting said one end of the cable to a point on said drawbar, a short arm secured to the drawbar just above the door, and a third idler roller carried by said short arm for contacting the cable at a point between the first named and second idler rollers to protect the cable from being scraped and frayed by the upper end of the door.

5. A door opener as recited in claim 4, wherein the spring tensioning means further comprises a second coil spring, a pair of loop members extending axially through the second spring with bights exposed beyond opposite ends of the other spring, each loop member having hooked end portions engaged on a different end of the second spring, the other end of said cable being attached the bight of one loop member and a flexible line connected between the bight of the other loop member and the door, so that tension exerted on the loop members by said cable and said line in opposite directions compresses said second spring between the hooked end portions of the loop members whereby the door and motor are protected from shock when movement of the door is stopped, and whereby sections of the cable between the door and said first unit are held in tension to slip on the winch when the door encounters an obstruction.

6. A door opener as recited in claim 5, wherein said second unit further comprises a support for the first named idler roller, a p-ivotally mounted safety locking arm carried by said support and normally disposed in a vertical position above the door to prevent raising of the door, and friction means engaging the arm and first named idler roller, so that the arm turns backward out of the way of the door when the door is raised by the cable while the cable is driven in one of said two directions, and so that the arm turns 1'' forward when the door is lowered by the cable while the cable is driven in the other of said two directions.

7. A door opener as recited in claim 6, wherein the second unit comprises a plate attachable to a header beam over the door, and a flange extending outwardly of said plate, said support comprising a bolt secured in said flange and rotatably carrying the first idler roller, friction means and safety locking arm.

8. A door opener as recited in claim 7, wherein said bolt has a threaded free end, a tint on said free end of the bolt, and another coil spring on said bolt between said nut and said safety locking arm, whereby adjustment of said nut adjusts spring pressure on the locking arm and the first idler roller to prevent excessively free rotation of the locking arm and first idler roller.

9. A door opener as recited in claim 8, wherein the means connecting the other end of the cable to the door, comprises a further coil spring, a pair of loop members extending axially through said further spring and arranged to compress said further spring when tension is applied to the loop members in opposite directions, said other end of the cable being connected to one loop member, and a flexible line connected between the other loop member and the door, so that tension exerted on the loop members by the cable and the line in opposite directions compresses said further spring to prevent shock to the door and motor when the door is raised and lowered.

10. A door opener as recited in claim 9, wherein said first unit further comprises a fixed bearing, a clutch roller rotatable on said bearing and cooperating with the winch to keep the cable adjustably tight around the winch and to control slipping of the cable on the winch, said bearing having a threaded portion, a clutch gear turnable on the threaded portion of said bearing, and a switch mounted in a fixed position near the clutch gear, whereby the switch is operated each time the clutch gear advances axially on said portion of the bearing both toward and away from said switch, said switch being connected in ClI'CUlt with 8 said motor, whereby current passing to the motor is turned on and off as the clutch gear moves axially on said portion of the bearing.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner.

0 I. K. BELL, Assistant Examiner. 

